OLPC Firmware Release q2e19 - 2008-10-03

This firmware is for a prebuild of systems with the new keyboard controller chip. It also includes experimental code for testing the wireless multicast NAND FLASH updater, and support for booting recent Fedora kernels.

Which Firmware Do You Have?

If your machine is in secure mode, you can go to the Terminal activity and type

cat /ofw/openprom/model

If your machine is in secure mode but the OS will not start, just go ahead and try to upgrade the firmware anyway. The procedure is safe and will not do anything if you already have up-to-date firmware.

Beginning with firmware Q2D08, you can see the firmware version in secure mode by powering up with the "check" game button held down.

Beginning with OS Build 690 (or less?) you can also go to the main screen, click on the little man and select "about this XO"

Installation

When installing new firmware, you must have a well-charged battery and the AC adapter plugged in. The firmware update code will not proceed otherwise. Possible error messages are:

error message

how to fix

AC not present

plug in the power cord, check the battery LED is on, then try again.

No external power

plug in the power cord, check the battery LED is on, then try again,

No battery

plug in the battery, check the latches, then try again, or try another battery,

Battery low

allow more time for the battery to charge, then try again, or try another battery.

Unsecured Laptop

This section is for unsecured laptops. Most XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 laptops are unsecured. Most developer XO laptops are unsecured. To unsecure your laptop, follow the instructions at Activation and Developer Keys.